Chicken, serrano ham and sherried pear salad with quince dressing
A good salad for autumn and winter. You can find membrillo – quince paste – in delicatessens and at the cheese counter of larger supermarkets.
Ingrediënten
FOR THE DRESSING
- 2 tsp cider vinegar
- 4 tsp membrillo quince paste
- salt and pepper
- 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
FOR THE SALAD
- 3 just-ripe pears
- juice of ½ lemon
- 1½ tbsp olive oil
- 400 g 14oz chicken mini fillets
- 10 g ¼oz unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp medium sherry
- 160 g 5¾oz watercress leaves, coarse stalks removed
- 20 g ¾oz blanched hazelnuts, halved and toasted
- 8 slices of Serrano ham each torn into 3 pieces lengthway
Instructies
- Make the dressing.
- Put the vinegar and membrillo into a cup or bowl and blend together with a spoon (you have to use the back of the spoon to squash the membrillo).
- It doesn’t have to be perfectly mixed in.
- Whisk in the seasoning and virgin oil, using a fork.
- Halve and core the pears and cut them into wedges.
- Squeeze lemon juice on them to stop them going brown.
- Heat 1 tbsp of the regular oil in a frying pan and cook the chicken, starting on a medium-high heat so it gets a good colour, then reducing the heat to cook all the way through.
- Season as you cook them.
- Remove to a plate.
- If you think any of the pieces are large, cut them into neat slices.
- Heat the butter and remaining regular oil in a clean frying pan and cook the pears over a medium-high heat initially – you want the pear flesh to get a good colour – then reduce the heat and cook until tender (be careful not to burn the butter).
- Quickly add the sherry and cook until it has coated the pears well and bubbled away to almost nothing.
- The pears should really become imbued with the sherry and turn quite dark in colour.
- Quickly toss the leaves, nuts, ham and chicken together with most of the dressing.
- Arrange on plates and divide the pieces of pear between them.
- Drizzle on the remaining dressing and serve.
